How to... use webinars in your business

18-Mar-2009 | By Mike Walmsley

Many people perceive recruitment in the US to be ahead of the UK, but is that really true?

From my experience of working in North America, there’s no doubt the US is ahead with Web 2.0. They have been finding business and placing great candidates via Linkedin.com, Broadlook.com and other second-generation webbased tools for years — and yet most UK recruiters are only scratching the surface.

However, first-mover advantage only lasts for so long.

Take webinars, for example. Many US recruitment directors use webinars as a cost-effective training medium, but in my opinion most are not using them to their full advantage, as they can also help win business and generate candidates.

What is a webinar?
A webinar is a web-based seminar. Log on to the browserbased software and you can view the chairman’s slides on your PC.

Unlike most other online training, you can also interact live via a teleconference and chat room — and then half an hour or so later you’ve achieved your goals without even needing to leave your office.

How to use webinars in your business … to train your staff
Using an internal trainer: This is particularly useful for organisations spread over a larger geographical area. Costs will be cut by bringing staff
together online for interactive training, removing the need for travel and overnight stays. Using an external trainer: Paying for an experienced
presenter to undertake a live webinar session will be a lot cheaper than bringing that person in for the day and will also minimise downtime.

…for remote meetings
Minimising the need for all attendees to go into a single office is an obvious cost and time saver. By having a prepared agenda on screen, you can see and talk to each other from various locations.

…to win business
Over the years, I’ve won a greatdeal of business by offering free training to prospective clients in topical areas such as how to interview more effectively, how to position their company as an employer of choice and so on. With webinars, you can run these kind of added-value business
development events to your clients across the web.

…to generate candidates
Consider offering a free session on, for example, interview preparation and asking candidates to ‘bring a friend.’ You may, for example, wish to
run these free events for passive candidates on Linkedin.com.

…to source candidates from other countries
Webinars can be used to attract prime international candidates, eg, offering a free webinar about living and working in the UK. One of my clients took this idea further recently and when his supply of UK-based candidates dried up he was able to attract candidates from India and then place them in Dubai!

Technophobic?
Even if you’re a technophobe, webinars are extremely simple to deliver, provided you find the right company (I use Netviewer.co.uk).

Aside from technology, the biggest misconception I encounter is that people think they should use a VoIP internet telephone connection such as Skype through the speakers of their PC. I’ve found the oldfashioned telephone works better. As importantly, a teleconference allows you to have live questions and this keeps the session lively.

It doesn’t take long to learn how to run webinars for company meetings and internal training. However, with a little creative thinking you will also be able to use them to attract more clients and candidates via web-based events.

Mike Walmsley is founder of peer-to-peer learning programme Elite Leaders and owner of training business Recruitment- Training.co.uk